Hello everyone!
Whew! What a week! Tech week is ALWAYS hard! It starts off with a long, 10-hour day going through all of the light and sound cues, as well as all of the scene changes (and there are A LOT of difficult scene changes). Then we add costumes and makeup the next day, then the following night we add in the amazing band and mics, then the next two nights we start adding in an audience and then we OPEN! This one was particularly difficult because there were lots of things we had to incorporate into tech, including the very intricate onstage change from Kansas to Munchkinland. There is A LOT happening to go from Kansas, through a tornado, and out the other side in a magic fairy tale land of Munchkinland. It takes more than 10 people (some you see, some you don't) moving in unison to make it all happen and all in about 40 seconds! This took the brain power of Jerry, Sarah, Jill, Alexa, and Jacob to make the magic that you see happen right in front of your eyes! I just hate that I can't see it because I've gone down into the storm cellar.
This week's tech week was hard on me personally. Acting and singing this show 8 times in a row is just physically demanding. It definitely took a toll on my voice as I would get more and more hoarse as the week went along, but luckily it made it to the end of the week (barely). I also hurt my knee early on during Tuesday's rehearsal and dealt with that all week. Don't worry though, it is healing well and I'm almost back to 100%! I absolutely love my costume and can't thank Carina (and her crew of volunteers and dressers) enough for really helping me get into this iconic character!
Last Friday, October 4th, we opened to an amazing audience and it was such a good show! The air around the theatre is always different on opening night. It's a mix of excitement and exhaustion. Many people dress up for opening night and the energy in the green room is just something you have to experience for yourself to get the full effect of. Everyone is excited, some are nervous, but we all look at each other and realize that this is the moment that we've been working towards for the last 8 weeks, to put the story to the people. We always get a pep talk from the Director (Jerry Crouch) and Susan Harper (Executive Director) just before we head out on stage.
One of the cool traditions at Asheville Community Theatre is that after the show, and after we've had a chance to greet those who came to see us, we go to a local restaurant to celebrate all of our hard work. For Wizard of Oz there were two celebrations. One for the munchkins in the lobby of the theatre with the cutest Oz themed cupcakes, then the rest of us went to our other celebration. I always love the opening night celebration because it gives me a chance to go around to everyone and thank them for everything they do, especially the creative team.
I tend to create some pre-show routines with every show that I do. The one that I picked up with this show is that a few minutes after the house opens (when the theatre lets audience members into the auditorium to their seats), and before I get into costume, I go down to where the Munchkins hang out when they are not on stage. I like to hang out with them and I don't get to do it once the show starts, so I go down there for a few minutes just to talk before I wish them all a good show or a "broken leg" and going back upstairs. This usually ends with a line of hugs on my way out.
Our Saturday and Sunday went well and we had 2 more amazing crowds. We were SOLD OUT on Sunday, and we are almost SOLD OUT for this Sunday already! So, if you are planning on coming to the show, you definitely want to go ahead and get your tickets. Now that there is word of mouth of the show, and a great review from Asheville Stages, tickets for the rest of the shows will start going fast! You do NOT want to miss this amazing experience!
The show runs from October 4th – 27th. Friday and Saturday shows start at 7:30p, with Sunday shows starting at 2:30p. Thursdays shows (October 17th & 24th) also starts at 7:30p. Theatre doors open 30 minutes before the show starts and there is a great selection at our concession stand! To buy tickets, and for further information, please visit their website http://ashevilletheatre.org/events/the-wizard-of-oz/
As always, if you have any questions for me or anyone else with the show, comment on the blog, YouTube video, Facebook, or if you’re on Instagram or Twitter, send questions to me @theonejohno #AskTheWizard#AskTheWizard.
Until next time...